


A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

by kwamii



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, Social Media, Think Outside the Love Square Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 20:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11112525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwamii/pseuds/kwamii
Summary: Chloé did not like many people’s pictures, let alone leave comments on them.  It would only be polite for Marinette to return these compliments.





	A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of things are happening in June in the fandom apparently so that's cute! I've got a prompt for 'social media' for any ship outside the love square and also one for 'discovery' for Pride Month. SO I've combined the two into something... a bit experimental? idk
> 
> I think I'd like to do more work on Chlonette? I think there's really an opportunity for a redemption arc for Chloé (which I haven't focused on At All in this fic but whatever sometimes you just have to be gratuitous)
> 
> Anything in **bold** is a screen name. Any emojis used (it is social media, after all, should be fairly common in unicode and not be an issue? we'll see

Alya had been pestering Marinette to get on Instagram for months now, and Marinette’s will had finally caved. She didn’t know how long she would maintain the account, but it certainly didn’t hurt to try it out.

Picking a username was the difficult part. After much thought, she settled on **marinettemakes** , because if there was anything she wanted to do with this account, it would be to share her designs (besides, alliteration was always cute). For her username, she chose a photo of herself that her parents had taken on her last birthday; warm light, her face tilted up towards the camera, a smile stretched across her face. For her first post, she couldn’t decide, so she started by seeing which of her classmates had accounts of their own.

Alya’s was full of shots of her friends and some of her work or her food, captioned with class conspiracies - and her feed bore remarkable similarities to Nino’s, which raised interesting questions about their alleged non-relationship. More interesting yet was their choice to use their akumatised names, **ladywifi** and **bubbler** , for their accounts. Juleka’s profile didn’t have a single selfie, instead turning her camera towards the world around her, but Rose’s made up for this with lots of candids of her friend among the dogs she had met in the parks of Paris. Ivan ran an edgy, monochrome account, from which pictures of his girlfriend radiated. Kim’s was upbeat, chronicling his morning runs and deadlift records, and the great stacks of foods he shared with his friends. It seemed Alix was trying to outdo him in showing off, because she showed similar images in between those of her freestyling in skate parks. Max had an account only to like the posts of his friends. Adrien’s Instagram seemed to be run by his management; behind the scenes of his latest shoot, grateful shout-outs and promotions for the brands that hired him. He had by far the greatest follower count for the class.

It was really interesting to see the images her classmates curated for themselves, but Nathaniel’s was closest to what she thought she envisioned for herself. Seeing his profile full of his doodles, comic scraps, and completed pieces reassured her that it wasn’t unusual to have an account dedicated to your work. So, tentatively, she posted a photo of a circle skirt she had made, accessorised with a pair of cute socks and thick-soled shoes.

She was surprised how quickly the feedback came in:

 **ladywifi:** gurl!! this is so awesome!

 **roselavillove:** ❤❤

 **lechampionkim:** nice legs :-) also nice dress lmao

Among these other notifications, **chloebourgeois** had requested to follow her, which wasn’t surprising - though Chloé hated her and was not interested in anything other than herself, she could hardly afford to let someone slip under her radar of data and derision. Marinette shrugged, and accepted the request, following her classmate in return and absently looking through the pictures Chloé had decided to post.

 **chloebourgeois** uploaded mostly selfies; neck a beautiful arch, lips a slight pout to emphasise their shape, make up _always_ perfect. Her trademark look was that frosted lip with long eyelashes and a small flick of eyeliner, but this profile showed her versatility, and had gained her a lot of followers as a fledgling beauty guru. In awe, Marinette scrolled down. Chloé with dark red lips. Chloé with a bronzed contour. Chloé in nude. (The words were unfortunate. This set up a new image that had to be rapidly discarded for her own safety.)

She had just uploaded a new photo: Chloé on the balcony of her father’s hotel in the early bloom of the sunset, face in blissful profile, golden light kissing her golden skin and hair, hands skimming her collarbones to display their beautiful shape.

 **marinettemakes** : Wow!

And in the same moment, **chloebourgeois** left a comment on her photo: wow tbh

* * *

Chloé did not like many people’s pictures, let alone leave comments on them. This was something Alya picked up on after she had left comments (flattering ones!) on three different pictures in a row: “Is there something going on between you and Chloé that you didn’t tell me about? I thought you hated each other.”

“I’m pretty sure we still do,” Marinette mused, and meant it.

“Hmm.”

Yet, this apparent thaw in their relationship was from both ends. Marinette had liked selfies of Chloé tossing her ponytail over her shoulder ( **marinettemakes:** Your hair is so pretty!), nursing a cup of coffee with slightly bleary eyes ( **marinettemakes:** You woke up like this? Amazing x), showing off a cute Ladybug hoodie she had bought ( **marinettemakes:** Almost as cute as the real thing :) ) and painting on a shimmery smoky eye ( **marinettemakes:** How do you do this? This is stunning!)… and pretty much everything else she had ever posted.

“I’m just being nice, Alya. Chloé’s a narcissist. I don’t know, I guess we might get along better if I compliment her loads, and it’s way easier complimenting her from far away rather than to her face. I get intimidated and chicken out.”

“Why? Because she’s hot and you can’t keep your cool?”

Alya said it like a joke, but Marinette replied to it like a reality, “N-no! I mean, like, she’s obviously hot, aesthetically-pleasing, whatever, but that isn’t important. It’s not that.”

“Hmm.”

“Besides!” she floundered, “If she’s being nice to me, it’s because she’s figured out she can get something out of me.”

Comments on **marinettemakes:** left by **chloebourgeois** : ‘above average xx’ (a cosy knitted jumper), 'my favourite babe! <3’ (a tea dress inspired by Chat Noir), three fire emojis in a row (a dress that came out shorter than intended, drawing the eye down to her thighs), a cheeky 'girls in suits? UGH’ (a suit jacket that Alya had convinced her friend to wear with a nude illusion beneath), 'pretty, but what does it look like on the designer?’ (a sketch of a summery dress with ruffles and layers of volume).

Alya had stubbornly called this flirting ('She’s gay, boo.’ 'No way. She’s obsessed with Adrien.’ 'Fine! She’s bi, boo.’), but Marinette did not feel like Chloé had changed her attitude outside of leaving flirty comments on her pictures - and Alya did that too, so it didn’t mean anything. Indeed, all it had culminated in was a DM saying 'hey so daddy’s got a charity gala and I’ve run out of things to wear, so I want you to design me something. gold would be nice’, and a picture of Chloé on the arm of a famous human rights lawyer, dressed in lamé and looking like a Grecian goddess, with tendrils of beautiful curling hair escaping the coil atop her head to caress her cheeks ( **marinettemakes:** Beyond gorgeous!). She had not even given a credit to the designer, and the designer did not feel it her place to say.

This was Marinette’s explanation. However, the comments on Marinette’s few selfies (pretty!, hooot x, ur like an angel) said something else entirely.

And, well, a picture is worth a thousand words.

* * *

**ladywifi** _posted a new picture_ : a selfie with Nino, hand making a peace sign. 'school dance babes!’ reads the caption, 'and there certainly were some babes tonight’

 **marinettemakes** _posted a new picture_ : a group photo of her four friends, arms draped over each other’s shoulders. It’s a lovely candid shot, Adrien laughing at something Nino says to him, Marinette’s attention directed somewhere beyond the shot (you can almost see it on her face: _holy…_ ). 'Had a really great night!’ she says, and means it.

 **chloebourgeois** _posted a new picture_ : a selfie taken from slightly above to give the best vantage of her cleavage in the revealing evening gown, and the dark plum lips (a new colour for her). At this angle, you can see the fingertips of the hand around her waist, and the slight blurring of her lipstick. 'you should’ve see me on the dancefloor ;) ’ 

And, if you know where to look, you can. In the background of ladywifi’s latest picture, somewhere in the dark of the dancefloor, you might discover Marinette Dupain-Cheng kissing Chloé Bourgeois, who she has been staring hungrily at since she first walked in the door - and plum is exactly what will quench her appetite.

Not in the photo, however, is the moment they pull away and say exactly what’s on their mind: “Wow…”


End file.
